Construction projects often require the placement of rigid elongate members into the ground. The rigid elongate members can manufactured from various shapes, sizes, and materials depending upon the intended use. The present invention is of particular significance in the context of driving a hollow pipe, such as a pipe pile or caisson, into the ground. For the purposes of describing the construction and use of the present invention, the term “pile” will be used herein to refer to any pile or caisson at least a portion of which is hollow.
Piles can be placed at a desired location in the ground using any one of a number of different methods. A hole can be excavated at the desired location, the pile inserted, and then backfill material can be arranged within the hole around the pile to secure the pile in place. More commonly, however, piles are driven into the ground using a pile driving system. A pile driving system typically applies a driving force on an upper end of the pile that drives or crowds the pile into the earth without excavation.
In some situations, the pile driving system combines a static driving force with vibratory forces to facilitate the driving and/or extracting of the pile. The static driving force is typically formed by the weight of the pile and the pile driving system and is directed along a drive axis that is substantially defined by a longitudinal axis of the pile. Typically, a support structure such as a crane is used to suspend the pile driving system and pile during operation of the pile driving system to insert and/or extract the pile.
The vibratory forces of a pile driving system that uses such forces are typically formed by a vibratory system that creates movement in both directions along the drive axis. A pile driving system that employs vibratory forces also typically employs a clamp system 20 to secure the vibratory system to the pile to ensure that the vibratory forces are effectively transmitted to the pile. In addition, a pile driving system employing vibratory forces further typically employs a suppressor for inhibiting the transmission of vibratory forces to the support structure.
The present invention relates to improved clamp system 20s and methods for vibratory pile driving systems for driving and/or extracting hollow piles such as pipe piles and caissons.